Lore

Sometimes I find myself wondering how many more Holocaust movies can be made at this point? I mean wasn’t Robin Williams in Jakob the Liar the death of these films? He kills everything else he’s in! But then I hear stories about idiot 8^th graders who are Neo Nazis and I realize that we need constant reminders of the past so that history doesn’t repeat itself. I think any moron that calls themselves a Neo Nazi or a skinhead should be forced to be a part of a real life Death Race (the Jason Statham movie)where they have to race against one another in armed cars and fight to the death. And on top of that, I think South Park should make Terrance and Philip characters modeled after Nazis. Don't get me wrong, making fun of Canadians is always awesome but these clowns are more deserving. 

Well thanks to director and credited screenplay writer Cate Shortland, we are given another interesting view on World War 2 through the eyes of a Nazi family. This story takes place in war torn Germany, which has just been occupied by the Allied Forces. All of the Jews are freed at this point and every Nazi is in hiding or on the run.  This would include our focus in the film Lore, who is played by the young, talented, and uncomfortably attractive Saskia Rosendahl, and her family which includes her younger twin brothers, younger sister, and newborn baby Peter. She immediately lets you know where the entire family stands by giving you a shot of a Swastika on a cuff link followed by their SS officer father barging in the door warning everyone that they need to be on the move immediately. Their mother thinks that they are cowards for running but reluctantly agrees to head to their safe place in the woods. 

Once they get there, Lore and her siblings' lives are turned upside down as their father is killed, their mother is taken away to a Nazi camp, and they are left on their own. But before their mother is taken away she gives them instructions to head across the country to their grandmother’s to stay. The only issue is that it is obvious that these kids are Hitler youth with their perfect blond hair and blue eyes, so they get little to no help from people along the way. That is until a young man who appears to be Jewish comes along. At first he provides security from a distance but then eventually works his way into the group as he provides food and guidance for the young kids who are making this difficult trek.

It sounds pretty straight forward but the mood that Shortland creates with her camera angles, cinematography, and story makes this movie anything but normal. You are basically uncomfortable for the entire movie. First, it’s hard to feel sorry for Nazis of any age but then you remember how young these kids are and you see some of the horrible things they are exposed to during their journey. Apparently when German soldiers found out they were on the brink of defeat, they decided to rape everything in sight. But you also see Lore struggling with what she’s been taught about the Jewish people and the new information she is receiving about the how they were treated. If you weren’t an SS officer, then you were like the majority of the people in Germany who had no idea about the torture, starving, and killing that was going on in the camps. To them Hitler was a hero, a father figure,a deity and someone who was saving their country. But here Lore found herself accepting help from someone she hated.

The weirdness however doesn’t end there. This is also a coming of age story as Lore finds herself discovering things about herself sexually. Keep in mind that this girl cant be more than 14-15 years old but she finds herself attracted to the Jewish boy that is helping them. Every interaction is intense as you don’t know if they are going to rip each other’s clothes off or literally kill each other. You see her growing sexually with the way Shortland creatively films scene after scene of Lore’s subtle glances at this mysterious guide of theirs. And honestly, the cinematography plays the role of dialogue at numerous times during this movie, much in the way that Terrance Malick uses it in his abstract films. The only problem with that is it makes the movie drag at times. 

I actually really liked this movie but I am not sure it is one I would ever watch again because not only do you see the physical toll this journey takes on the kids and the horrific things they have to go through but you find yourself wondering how blindly you support something without gaining all of the facts first. So just like Lore, you are questioning your beliefs, your views on the world, and some of it’s history. I rate this movie as really FRESH but suggest that you rent it and watch it over two sittings.